Josh Rock beaten by 13-year-old as Gerwyn Price stars in Cardiff ahead of 2026 PDC World Darts Championship
PDCMonday, 08 December 2025 at 19:29
Gerwyn Price delivered exactly the sort of pre-2026 PDC World Darts Championship statement he was hoping for on Thursday night, winning twice on home soil and closing out the Modus exhibition in Cardiff with an 8-7 thriller over Jonny Clayton.
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But the other major talking point came much earlier in the evening — and from one of the next generation’s youngest stars — as 13-year-old Jayden Walker produced a stunning 3-0 win over Josh Rock.
In a week where 15-year-old Mitchell Lawrie reached the WDF World Championship final at Lakeside, the sight of another teenager dismantling a top professional only underlined how fast darts’ youth movement is accelerating.
Price hits form at the right moment
If Price wanted rhythm, intensity, and a bit of fire heading into the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship, he got the full package.
He opened his night with a 3-1 win over Simon Whitlock — “The Iceman freezes the Wizard” as Modus put it — and kept that momentum rolling into the final. There, he edged Clayton 8-7 in front of a home Welsh crowd and sealed the exhibition title with exactly the sort of clutch finishing that has defined his best seasons.
With both Price and Clayton heading to Ally Pally within days, Modus summed it up perfectly: “Both Welsh stars head to Ally Pally in fine form.”
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Jayden Walker steals the headlines with a shock win over Rock
Before Price’s heroics, the biggest roar of the night belonged to Jayden Walker.
Described by Modus as “The Young Gun in Cardiff”, the 13-year-old swept past Josh Rock 3-0 — a result that immediately drew attention given Rock’s reputation as one of darts’ most exciting established young players.
The timing added an extra sting too: just days after teenage sensation Mitchell Lawrie went all the way to the Lakeside final at only 15, Walker joined the growing list of prodigies making serious noise on the exhibition circuit.
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Other Cardiff results round out a lively night
The evening opened with Stephen Bunting getting the better of Rob Owen, before Jonny Clayton kept the Welsh crowd warm with a 3-1 victory over Steve Beaton. The atmosphere only ramped up from there, especially once Gerwyn Price and Simon Whitlock took to the stage for their early-session clash.
Between the headline moments from Price and Walker, those undercard results helped set a quick rhythm to the night — the kind Modus exhibitions have become known for in recent months.
With the PDC World Darts Championship just around the corner, these Cardiff outings served different purposes for different players:
Price tightened the screws at precisely the right moment, Walker stole headlines as another frighteningly young talent on the rise, and Rock suffered a setback he’ll want to shrug off quickly.
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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